Fwurg

[Veolian Commonwealth]

((OOC: This thread is private to the Veolian Commonwealth and the Confederacy of Excarian.))

The hovercar transporting the veolian empress came to a smooth stop an the landing pad of the Excarian embassies. Two cloaked and hooded figures got out of the front of the car, and one of them opened the door for the empress, while the other briskly walked over to one of the guards stationed at the Excarian embassy for a last-minute update on the carried side-arms.

While the door is held open, Tayu Shanora left the vehicle and extended a hand, mostly for show, to help the empress get out of the car. The veolian empress took a moment to take in the view, giving the Excarian welcoming party a moment to make sure everything was ready.

[Former Senator Bolv'ar of the Confederacy of Excaria]

"Welcome Empress!" the Chancellor greeted. The chancellor had decided to personally meet the visiting dignitary at the entrance, offering his hand to shake.

"Please, would you follow me inside?" he invited her in.

[Empress Saret Neferti]

The veolian empress accepted the chancellor's hand and shook it, taking great care to exert just enough force to appear as a delicate woman.

"Chancellor Bolv'ar", the empress started, "Thank you for sparing us some of your valuable time."

The empress, her two handmaidens, and Tayu Shanora followed the chancellor inside.

[Former Senator Bolv'ar of the Confederacy of Excaria]

The Chancellor led the Empress and her entourage inside, to a very clean, but barely decorated room where comfortable chairs had been arranged around a circular table for them.

"Please have a seat." he offered, waiting for his guest to be seated before finding his own seat.

Once they were comfortably settled, he decided to cut to business. "I trust you have been informed of the recent discoveries by the Jedi, and the implications it may have for your personal safety in the near future?" he seemed concerned for the empress' well-being and that was not just political posing.

[Empress Saret Neferti]

The veolian empress sat down in a chair to the side of the room, not directly opposite the door, but clearly not with her back to the door either. Her handmaidens positioned themselves unobtrusively, and the Twi'lek woman with her sat down in the door-side seat next to the empress.

"Thank you for you concern chancellor", said the albino woman, "I am well aware of the possible danger of this voyage, but as the wife of an emperor I have a duty to represent him, and in this case his allies. I have faith in the jedi assigned to my protection.

On a more positive note: my sincerest congratulations on your election to the position of chancellor. Though chancellor Acehtoo had a strong focus on growing the Union, she did unfortunately not see the weight a strong military can lend to one's affairs.

Lady Nehket has informed me that you have great plans for the Union military, and for the militaries of her members?"

[Former Senator Bolv'ar of the Confederacy of Excaria]

"Thank you Empress, I am happy the members of the Union saw the wisdom in a military strategy.

I do have big plans Empress, and in fact they are making big strides forward already. I have no doubt there will soon be several votes in the Union about them.

They include subsidies to build defences and general improvements to the way the Unions defences are organised."

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"I look forward to seeing what you want to accomplish. I am confident that the Veolian Commonwealth will agree with most of the measures.

While we are on the subject, I would like to discuss an idea with you with regards to the Jedi Council."

"As you will surely have noticed, a fair number of races represented by the different Union members seem to be sensitive to the force. Currently, we only have the Jedi Council to take advantage of the natural gifts of these individuals.

Unfortunately, the Jedi Council operates as a separate political entity within the Union, not really beholden to anyone; next to this, the Jedi Council only takes on those that are at the peak of their species, leaving many of the extremely capable unchallenged in their pursuits. We have asked former chancellor Acehtoo to look into this matter, but she appeared to be very much busy with other things.

So we would like to discuss the possibility of setting up a second tier of special operatives, this time in service to the Union. We would see these operatives as forming the elite corps of the Union military, capable of more difficult deployments than normal troops, but far more numerous than the Jedi."

She paused for a moment.

"Before we continue on this subject, I would very much like to hear your opinion on such an endeavour", she said looking toward the chancellor.

[Former Senator Bolv'ar of the Confederacy of Excaria]

"I have been working on getting the Jedi more closely integrated with the Union." the Chancellor nodded, pondering the Empress' proposal.

"Your proposal is interesting, but the devil is in the details. Would such service be mandatory? I think we would find it hard to impose... if not, then how is it any different from how we promote capable individuals to elite units already?" he reasoned "Also, how would we recognise individuals who are not powerful with the force but merely... more capable?"

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"Of course such a service would not be mandatory. As to the selection of applicants... One is forced to wonder how the Jedi order selects it's padawans.

On Mirda we have a set of extremely difficult and arduous training disciplines, though I agree that these do not allow us to distinguish very capable individuals from those using the force. There is, however, and option of selecting at least a subset of those sensitive to the force. This requires a fair bit of cultural knowledge about the, let me explain.

As you might very well be aware the hemet mutation carries, in an as of yet inexplicable way, with it a higher propensity for force sensitivity with it. While much has been lost during the times of chaos, we know that the ancient order of Saśakta hai Vyavasthā trained those sensitive in the force long before the Jedi order came to Mirda.

With the arrival of the Jedi order, the Saśakta hai Vyavasthā decreased in size, and though during the times of chaos saw a short increase of interest, the relative calm in the Union territories allowed the Jedi to once more contact Mirda.

The Saśakta hai Vyavasthā still exists, albeit in low numbers, and unlike the Jedi order they do take on individuals that show some affinity, but not the extreme potential required by the Jedi order. They posses knowledge of an ancient regimen of meditation and training to hone one's connection to the force, even if this connection is weak.

Among these rituals is a set of exercises that allows the student to meditate on his connection with the force, and eventually make a flower bloom. A member of the order explained to me that the student should be capable of this after a month, if not, the student is not strong enough to be taken on by the order."

((OOC: By no means am I trying to introduce a way of determining one's intial level of 'force potential'. It is highly likely that the methods of the Saśakta hai Vyavasthā rely not only on the Force, but on Hemet physiology (or even the specific composition of the flower species) as well: making this whole endeavour useless to the Union at large.

But the point of Jedi order selection remains :P))

[Former Senator Bolv'ar of the Confederacy of Excaria]

"A most interesting group these... 'Saśakta hai Vyavasthā'. Most interesting indeed." the Chancellor agreed. Surprisingly he actually pronounced the name correctly the first time, though whether that was a coincidence or not remained a mystery.

"To be honest, I am not exactly sure how the process for finding Jedi Padawan's goes. I always presumed parents would bring their force sensitive children to the Jedi order to be trained, just as intelligent individuals are generally taken to universities to study there.

Perhaps this topic warrants more study?"

((OOC: I think the topic of Padawan selection should be covered during the Write-a-thon, me thinks!))

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"I agree. There is a lot that is unknown about the Jedi. But we know that they have great personal power, and that they use this to protect those weaker than them. Which is one of the reasons we should take care to bind them to the Union and offer them reasons to cooperate with us and to intertwine their interests with ours, and in this way ensure their presence when we need them."

The empress shortly looked at the twi'lek woman, and then continued speaking.

"I must say I am impressed with your excellent pronunciation of the order's name. Few off-worlders, for lack of a better term, are aware of their existence. Those that are usually butcher the dialect, and misunderstand their delicate position within veolian culture and history." The empress was clearly interested in what the chancellor knew about the order.

[Former Senator Bolv'ar of the Confederacy of Excaria]

"Actually, I am not familiar with your order, Empress. However, I dealt with many different species and cultures regularly in my job as a diplomat before becoming Senator, and correct pronunciation is very important to some species. I merely copied your own pronunciation as best I could. I am glad to see I was successful in this."

The Empress got the idea there was more behind it than this, but for now she had little reason to question his explanation.

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"Chancellor, I have had the pleasure of speaking with a few representatives of different Union members, and up till now almost all representatives had one of two subjects to discuss with me: cybernetics or slavery.

I would be very interested in your, or Excaria's if you do not wish to elaborate on this as Chancellor, take on these subjects."

[Former Senator Bolv'ar of the Confederacy of Excaria]

"Empress, I honestly have no strong opinion on the matter of cybernetics. Those who wish it should use it, those who need it should get it and those who do not want it should not have it forced upon them. That is all I think of it.

As for slavery... I think it is best we do not bring that subject to the table."

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"As you wish, chancellor.", the empress said in a soft voice. "But be aware that the issue will come up at some point in time, and from a veolian point of view not having an opinion might be interpreted as worse than having an opposing opinion."

The empress stood, "It has been a pleasure talking to you chancellor. I sincerely hope that you take the establishment of a special branch of Union operatives under advisement."

The empress seemed ready to leave.

[Former Senator Bolv'ar of the Confederacy of Excaria]

"I am certain it will. Regardless, it was a pleasure to meet you empress. I am already moving to work on this special branch and we will see where it leads."

The chancellor moved to walk the empress back to her vehicle, their conversation concluded.